As the Formula One summer break comes to an end, the teams will be back in competition this weekend in Zandvoort. The pause in work during July/August was brought in a number off years ago as the calendar ballooned to over 20 race weekends a year and it includes a mandatory 14 consecutive days where the factories are closed.

A further reason given by the FIA when introducing the fourteen day mandatory closure was to scale back the R&D teams were doing mid-season given previously the time would be used in attempts to improve the car 

This year the FIA beefed up the shutdown rules insisting that during each team’s nominated two weeks of closure, screens must be switched off and email “out of office” replies standardised.

 

 

 

F1 summer shut down

During the closure the teams and their contractors are forbidden from carrying out a specific list of tasks.  All computer-based CFD simulations must be switched off, as well as the production or development of any wind tunnel parts, car parts, test parts, or tooling. The wind tunnels themselves must also be switched off entirely.

Assembly of cars, as well as sub-assembly of components, is also banned.

However, there are some caveats to these bans. Should a team have to worry about repairs or a rebuild following a hefty crash in the final round before the break, they can seek the agreement of the FIA to carry out the necessary repairs.

Further, a team’s wind tunnel may also be used, provided it is for projects with “no direct relation” to Formula 1, or on behalf of another team that has not yet entered its own mandatory shutdown. Teams choose exactly which fourteen days in the three and a half weeks where they are in the ‘summer shutdown.’

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FIA allowable work

Wind tunnels may also be used for the purposes of maintenance or modifications to the facility. The same restrictions and allowances apply to the computers used for CFD simulations.

This summer, its now apparent Ferrari elected to use the shutdown to upgrade its wind tunnel floor from one that was metallic to one now made of ‘innovative materials.’ The reasons behind this previously unannounced modifications are varied.

The new floor has advanced rollers which the tyres rest upon and now are synchronised to rotate at the same speed as the air passing over the car. This should help the Scuderia with some correlation issues from which they have suffered where the simulations back at base look like nothing when the car hits the track.

Further the old metal rollers caused significant wear and team on the Pirelli tyres fitted by the teams. F1 teams get allocated just ten sets of Pirelli rubber for the year which they can use in their wind tunnel tests. More running on comparable tyres means Ferrari will gather more and better data from their wind tunnel simulations.

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Better ride height simulations for Ferrari

The new floor in the Maranello wind tunnel is also said to allow Ferrari to experiment to a greater degree with ride height. The old floor limited the extent to which they could lower the car and if set too low, the skid block would damage the old rollers.

Ferrari began the year strongly and were expected to be the main contenders to Red Bull Racing. Carlos Sainz inherited the win in Australia when Max Verstappen’s brakes exploded at the entrance to the pit lane. The Charles Leclerc finally claimed a maiden home victory in Monaco with his team mate third, but the following race in Barcelona the car was heavily upgraded.

The Scuderia’s fortunes have really plummeted since the win in Monaco and in the six Grand Prix since have claimed just one podium with Carlos Sainz P3 in Austria.

Post Monaco Charles Leclerc was second in the drivers title race just 31 points behind Verstappen after a third of the season. Ferrari too were second in the constructors’ race a mere 24 points behind the world champions.

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F1 current state of play

Now the numbers look very different as F1 begins its two phased dash over the ten remaining Grand Prix weekends. Charles Leclerc has slipped to third in the drivers’ championship but is 100 points behind the leader Max Verstappen who has just three wins in the last nine races.

Ferrari too have fallen in the team standings to third behind McLaren and with the top four placed as follows:

Red Bull – 408

McLaren – 366

Ferrari – 345

Mercedes – 266

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Ferrari bringing upgrades to Zandvoort

The Spanish upgrade package re-introduced the phenomena of ‘bouncing’ for the Ferrari drivers again due to the fact they could only experiment with ride hide properly at the circuit given the state of their wind tunnel.

They abandoned this specification of the car and returned to the Imola spec for the British Grand Prix. During practice Sainz drove the original car while Leclerc retained the upgraded version. This gave Ferrari the data they required and the decision for Saturday was the Monegasque driver would also return to the Imola specification SF-24.

Now Sky F1’s David Croft reveals Ferrari will bring another substantial upgrade for this weekends event in Zandvoort. Speaking on the latest episode of the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Croft said: “Ever since the upgrades that came in Spain, and brought a solution to Canada that didn’t work, [it’s been a rough ride for Ferrari].

“There is an upgrade package coming in Zandvoort, there is a new floor as part of that upgrade package.”

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It is critical Ferrari eliminate the bouncing quickly because at present they can’t run the SF-24 with the set up they need to maximise its pace.

“If they don’t get rid of the bouncing, then Charles [Leclerc] and Carlos [Sainz] are going to have very sore heads after the Italian Grand Prix, because the last place you want that bouncing to occur is Monza,” Croft adds.

Zandvoort is a critical weekend for all the top teams and for Red Bull with their championship lead whittled down to just 42 points Dr. Marko’s assessment of where they might be amongst the sand dunes in the Netherlands, if Ferrari get it right they may become the closest rivals again to the world champions.

“It’s mouth-watering what is coming up at Zandvoort. The true answer to whether Ferrari will be the team to look out for, or whether it will be Red Bull or Mercedes, is anyone’s guess,” concludes Croft.

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Audi surprise choice for Hulkenberg team mate – “signed”

Having seen his seat offered to Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas could breathe a sigh of relief when the Spaniard elected to drive for Williams next season not Sauber soon to be the Audi works team. The ex-Ferrari man had a choice of two F1 manufacturers in Alpine and Audi yet chaos in both organisations saw Carlos turn them both down.

This should have been good news for Valtterii Bottas who was also in the running for the Williams drive in 2025. Audi having recruited Nico Hulkenberg and made Sainz a public target apparently wanted experienced F1 drivers as they enter F1 in 2026.

With Sainz making his future clear right as the summer break began, Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley – the newly poached man from Red Bull who is set to become team principal – have now had some time to consider their future options… READ MORE